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Thursday, October 17, 2013

Today I was in a hurry

Today I was in a hurry. I had an appointment with a cardiologist in a strange neighborhood called Bagnolet. I did not know exactly where I was going or how to get there. I was nervous about what the Dr. would tell me. I was closely following my metro map - first a bus, then a metro, then another metro then another bus...In one of the metro stations I heard a woman crying out. "S'il vous plait. S'il vous plait". I saw a blind woman and her guide dog. Lost in the metro station. She knew where she wanted to go but did not know how to get there.I have done this before. I walked up, asked her if I could help. Having been lost for awhile by this time, she was upset. Her dog was stressed. I asked if I could guide her a bit (in my only passable French). When she agreed I led her and her dog down a hall, up two flights of stairs and finally left her waiting for her train.Of course my immediate stress about not quite knowing how to get where I was going went away. And you know what replaced it?You might think I felt gratitude for my situation compared to hers.

Nope.

Or a new-found sense of challenge about my little adventure into new territory. NopeInstead I got a chance to reflect on my current feelings about being lost. Not knowing where I want to go. How on earth will I ever know how to get there? Wherever there is.Damn it I don't even have a dog to guide me.Today I was in a hurry. I didn't know exactly where I was going. I didn't know exactly how to get there. But somehow a blind woman lost in a metro station managed her journey with a little help and so will I.